


love isn't what i thought it was

by timetravelingpalmer



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: AU, F/M, Secret Identity AU, Starts out fluffy, but there is angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-01
Updated: 2019-07-17
Packaged: 2020-05-31 15:48:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19429135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/timetravelingpalmer/pseuds/timetravelingpalmer
Summary: Nora has a secret. A secret that wasn't a problem until she met Ray Palmer, CEO of Palmer Tech. Maybe it isn't ideal that she uses her magic to help her recently deceased father commit crimes across the city, but hey, everyone's family has problems. Now, as long as she can keep her secret from Ray, everything should be fine. Right?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> okay this has been in the works for so long and im finally ready to post it! this idea means a lot to me and i wanna thank the people who helped me along the way (you know who you are)!
> 
> i hope you enjoy it :)
> 
> (also next update should be up by this wednesday!)

Nora always loved the city. 

She loved how it was always moving and growing like a living organism. 

That was the reason she took a job as a courier. She got to explore and roam the city on her motorcycle all day long. She got to choose when she wanted to start and when she wanted to stop for the day. It may not have been the most stable job but things in her life never needed to be stable to somehow all fall into place. 

It was a good life. She had more than enough time for hobbies, to work on art or photography or whatever else she wanted to do. 

But, it also led to some downsides. The city was so big and without anything concrete, something with strings attached, it was all too easy to let herself get lonely. The other downside was the only person in her life that was even somewhat stable, her father. 

They had always had a very complicated relationship from the get go. The part of her life that has him in the picture has slowly become her least favorite part of any day since he made his reappearance two years ago. 

In the city that side of her seemed to matter less and less. It was easy to blend into a huge crowd and be seen as being just like anyone else. It was easy to hide in the shadows of the huge skyscrapers and go unnoticed. 

Nora got off her bike at the site of the delivery, Palmer Tech. She always seemed to be delivering packages there. It was a huge building after all, filled with a bunch of busy people in suits who never seemed to stop working. She pushed her way through the boring suits and made her way to the elevators, the label on the package directed her to the fifty-fifth floor. It was packed a little too close for comfort. Nora glanced down at her watch, 1:30, they were probably all coming back from lunch break. There was a subtle buzz as the co workers talked with one another. 

The doors started closing before a hand cut in between them and they reopened. A man walked in the elevator at the last minute and with that the buzz stopped. The people around her all stiffened and seem to pick some spot on the wall to inspect. It was strange. The man didn’t exactly seem like the intimidating type. 

Despite seeming to be late, something that would put anyone in a bad mood, he was wearing a bright smile on his face. He also happened to have a very handsome face. Without that smile and disposition he probably would be as scary or intimidating as the workers are acting like he is. He was tall, like, really tall. Nora was short, often labeled petite, so everyone seemed to tower over her, but the very top of her head came a few inches to clearing even his shoulder. The employees rigid behavior somehow did not dampen the mood of the room. Somehow there was a comforting presence in the cramped elevator, even though the employees went stiff as well… a stiff. Everyone else was trying to repel him while Nora was only drawn in more.

It was a huge building so the elevator ride was much longer than what Nora had intended. She was more used to dealings in shady motels where the elevator was more of a toss up on if you were actually going to get to the floor you wanted. At each stop a few people cleared out, on their way to get back to work. By the time it had reached the sixteenth floor, everyone had cleared out except for the man that drew Nora's eye.

He turned and faced toward her and smiled. It was big and bright, nothing like the rest of the drab, grey attitude that seemed to seep through the walls in the building. It seemed for a second that the fluorescent light bulbs got a bit softer. “Hi.” His kind tone matched his disposition perfectly. Nothing like how the people acted around him. 

“Hey,” Nora responded. That same something continued to pull her in. “You sure have a knack for making people shut up.” She crossed her fingers, hoping her attempt at being witty may have actually landed. She had no idea who this guy even was. Maybe he actually did like the fact that everyone went stiff as soon as he entered a room, or maybe he was completely oblivious to it.

Nora let out a sigh of relief when he smiled back and chuckled softly. “Not quite sure why. Maybe it’s the suit.” He gestured down the rest of his body. The suit was drab and grey, like most Nora had seen, but he was doing an exceptional job at filling it out. “I knew I made a mistake with the plain tie this morning. Too professional.”

“I like it.” She blurted out before she could think of anything, literally anything, anything else in the world, to say. She scrambled, trying to recover, to say something witty and quick. “I just mean that it looks nice, you look nice.” Nora could feel a blush running to her cheeks. “The suit. The suit looks nice.” 

“Thank you.” He actually seemed to appreciate the compliment. But who knows, he was probably just trying to make her feel better about looking like an idiot. “I’m glad someone in this building approves of my fashion choices. If it’s any consolation, I think your jacket looks nice.”

She was wearing her old, beat up, leather jacket. It was probably the dingiest article of clothing she owned, because she did wear it nearly everyday, as well as quite possibly her favorite. The seams were torn in some places and the fabric around the elbows had turned from black to gray years ago. Nothing like the straight edge, proper way she would imagine he would ever dress. 

“Thank you.”

“So what floor are you headed to?” He asked, inspecting the rows of buttons with only the one at the top lit up. Nora had assumed it would be obvious that they were headed to the same place. 

“Top floor. Delivery.” she explained as she held up the package she was holding.

“Ah. I can take that now for you if you want.” Nora was happy to hand it over. When she had first picked it up she didn’t feel like it was heavy but it had slowly weighed down on her.

The man looked lost in thought for a second as silence passed over the two of them. Not awkward or uncomfortable, just a peaceful quiet. He took a breath and turned back to her. “I’m sorry if this is super forward and weird but I think I would regret it if I didn’t ask so-”

Nora didn’t wait for him to finish before taking a pen out of her pocket, pulling the package towards her, scribbling her phone number, and signing it  _ Nora Adams.  _ A name that was not technically a lie. She had changed it back to her mother's maiden name after her father's started causing her trouble when he disappeared. “Here,” she said softly, underlining her script. 

Later when Nora had time to reflect on this she would call herself crazy. What if he wasn’t asking for her number at all? What if she had somehow misread every single signal she thought was clear as day? Never mind the fact that even if that was what he was asking she just gave her phone number and name to a complete stranger. Even though it could have gone wrong in fifteen hundred different ways, she would be glad that she took that leap of faith. 

“Thanks Nora” He put extra emphasis on her name. It sounded right when he said it. 

The elevator doors opened and he made a move to walk through them but Nora pulled back on the box that was still in her grasp. “Wait. I never even asked your name.” 

He furrowed his brows. “I thought you knew. From the package.” He nodded his head down, gesturing to the label. 

Under the address it said the name  _ Raymond Palmer.  _

Nora’s mouth moved faster than her brain. “Oh. You’re the guy from the side of the building.” She closed her mouth quick. Trying to stop herself from sounding even more idiotic to a man that she now knew to be a genius. 

Instead of being insulted, Ray just grinned and looked pleasantly surprised. “Yeah. That's me.” He pulled the box from her grasp and exited the elevator. “So, I’ll see you again?”

“You can count on it Palmer.”

\----

“He actually seemed sweet. Too bad I’m definitely not gonna see him again.”

Nora was back at her apartment with her close friend Charlie. After her chance meeting with Ray Palmer she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it, and not necessarily in a good way. She had actually liked him, but that was before she figured out he was some pompous rich guy. The two friends had met for lunch and on their way back to Nora’s apartment she had gotten a text from Ray about seeing each other again, which led to a retelling of their meeting.

“Wait why not?” Charlie said from where she was sprawled at the edge of Nora’s bed, watching her friend streak random colors across one of her new paintings.

“You’re kidding right? He’s just gonna be some asshole rich dude who’s gonna try and impress me by just flaunting his money around.” Nora thought this was a very good reason not to indulge in a date, but the laugh she heard said that her friend seemed to think otherwise. 

“Okay? So what if he’s an asshole? He’s like buy your own small island rich. I really didn’t think I would have to spell this out for you but,  _ steal his money. _ ”

Nora shook her head. “Oh my god, you’re the worst.” 

“Look, either way it’s a win win. He sucks and you use him for his money, or you actually like him for his heart or whatever people date for these days and he just gives it to you no problem. Then, after that, you get married, have a very expensive wedding with an open bar and invite me.” 

She just grinned and rolled her eyes in response. Nora might not be the most morally correct person out there, but she certainly wasn’t about to scam someone to get their money. Although maybe her reason for not wanting to do so were selfish. Being in an unhappy marriage didn’t sound like a whole lot of fun. 

“He’s also not bad looking either.” Charlie was scrolling through her phone. “Literally the worst thing that could happen if you give this guy a chance is that he might spend some of his, holy shit,  _ eight billion dollar net worth _ on you.” 

“What are you even looking at?” 

“His wikipedia page.”

“Okay, I feel like if you are internet stalking someone before a date and they have a wikipedia page, that should be a huge red flag to not go on the date.”

They both stayed silent for a little while longer. Nora hoped that Charlie had just decided to drop the topic all together. She had already made up her mind about not going. The guy was filthy stinking rich yes, but that was a guarantee that he was a snooty jerk.

Sadly, Charlie had not dropped it. “You know what I think?” She asked.

“Oh please enlighten me.” 

“I think you’re intimidated by the fact that he is more put together than you.”

Nora scoffed. There was no way in hell that she was intimidated by some guy. Nora didn’t get intimidated. She was the one that made others intimidated. That’s how she liked it. “Oh bullshit. I’m plenty put together. It’s just that rich people are greedy and they suck.” she said as she reached for her glass of water. A soon as she put the glass to her lips she knew something was off.  _ Oh shit. Paint water.  _ Nora spit it out back into the cup and made a gagging noise. It was by no means the first time that mix up had happened.

Charlie laughed, clearly enjoying this. “Yeah I totally believe that the girl who just drank paint has her life together. Yep. That checks out.”

Nora gave Charlie a sour look, still wincing from the bad taste in her mouth. “I’m not the dumb girl at the beginning of a rom com who needs some guy to come in and sweep her off her feet and ‘fix’ her life. My life doesn’t need to be fixed. I like it the way it is. And I guarantee that dating someone isn’t going to magically put my life together.”

_ If anything it will just make it more complicated,  _ Nora thought to herself. She jumps through hoops as it is to keep her real life separated from her dad. Having a boyfriend certainly wouldn’t make it any easier. 

“I’m not saying he’s gonna fix you or whatever you’re on about. I’m just saying that maybe you should step out of your comfort zone, give the guy a chance. You even said he was sweet.”

“I only met him for forty seconds! My judgement was off. Also, the whole time he talked about his clothes, so you know he’s totally self absorbed.” Nora grasped at straws to come up with more reasons that Ray Palmer was completely undateable. 

“When you talked about it before it really just sounded like banter.”

Choosing not to respond to that, Nora continued on her tirade. “And his employees are terrified of him! They were basically cowering. How nice can he be really? And the way he like withheld who he was, like I should just automatically know him? That’s so egotistical.” 

“Nora, you’re going.” 

“For the last time, no I am not.” 

“Oh really? Then why did you text him that Saturday at three works great for you?” 

Nora turned around to look at her friend, who was holding up her phone with Rays messages open. She had agreed that she would go for her.

“I really hate you sometimes.”

Nora guessed she had a date.

\----

  
  


Nora was pretty sure that if he proposed she would say yes. The date was nothing like what she would have expected in millions of years. She would be over the moon if it didn’t mean that Charlie had ended up being right about something. 

Ray insisted on keeping it a surprise, said it would make things more interesting. This in Nora’s mind translated to ‘I’m going to surprise you with my stacks of money and try and make it seem endearing,’ which definitely was not what Nora wanted. Because of the surprise factor she also had no idea what to wear. They were meeting at three in the park so that meant it was a lunch, maybe? Nora didn’t know why she was stressing over it in the first place because there was no way in hell that she was going to go out of her way to impress this guy. So, she ended up going with what she wore most days, gray shirt and her leather jacket. She didn’t care if it turns out that he was taking her to the fanciest place in the city, she would be damn comfortable. 

Turns out the only surprise he had in store was a picnic basket stuffed which a good mix of actual food and candy. There was no string quartet about to pop out from behind a bush, no box with over priced jewelry in it, and definitely no formal occasion he dressed up for. Nora had thought he filled out a suit well but that was before she had seen him in this outfit. He had worn a navy polo shirt that pulled tight around his arms. Arms that Nora thought were quite nice. Okay, maybe more than ‘quite nice’ but she was trying to be tame. There actually happened to be plenty of other things that are nice about him; his smile, his eye, the way he laughed. 

They had been sitting on the blanket he packed for a few hours just talking, about nothing in particular, just each other. To Nora's surprise he never interrupted her with stories of his own, and when she asked about him he never talked about the number of cars he no doubt had or how much money he made. Instead, when she asked him questions of her own he only answered with his own ideas for the company and how he wants to help the city and put the money he makes toward a good use. 

He was also surprisingly humble. Nora was trying to trip him up, to prove herself right that he’s a stuck up asshole. Even if she explicitly asked about his business and the money that comes from it, he found a way to change the subject or make it about what he wants the company to be instead of just bragging about the success it already is.

Whenever he asked about her she was careful not to tell too much. The less he knew about her family or her father the better. That whole part of her life was so damn complicated she kept it a secret from everybody so she sure as hell wasn’t going to dump it on a total stranger. What was she supposed to say anyway?  _ Oh yeah Ray I forgot to tell you. My dad is a notorious criminal who I thought was dead since I was eight but a few years back he reappeared like magic, which I actually have by the way.  _ That would scare him away for sure. But, there was something sincere about Ray, something that made her want to open up. Nora had gotten good at keeping her walls up and this may be the first time she thought they may be threatened. Surprisingly, she didn’t mind too much. Still, she kept her mouth shut, telling him half truths that she wishes were real.

The longer they had been there the more comfortable they got around each other. They were now laying propped up on their elbows trying to throw grapes in the other mouths, asking the occasional question. 

Nora doesn’t know what possessed her to do it but she said the thing that had been on her mind all day. “This is not what I expected at all.”

Ray smirked. “Better I hope. Oh god please don’t say it’s worse.”

“No, better. Definitely better.”

“Well I’m glad then” Ray scooted closer to her. “What were you expecting?”

Nora weighed her options and opted for being honest. The Ray that she had gotten to know seemed like he would appreciate it. “Umm, honestly?” 

Ray nodded.

“I thought you were gonna be an asshole.”

He laughed before he dramatically gasped, playing offended. “How rude of you!” 

Nora put her hands up in surrender and tried to explain herself. “Look when I agreed to go out with you I didn't know you were Mr. Bigshot and in my experience rich people suck.”

He laughed again. She liked making him laugh, she decided.

“Also, you just assumed I knew who you were so… I kinda thought you had a huge ego.”

Even though Nora had just literally insulted him to his face, it didn't seem to phase him. Ray just kept on smiling. “Okay, that I can explain! For so long I always assumed that no one knew who I was because of that exact reason. I didn’t want to come off as stuck up. But, whenever people did know who I was they would say ‘uh, yeah, I know,’ and I always felt like an idiot. I guess now it has sadly flipped back. In my defense, you were also holding a box that literally had my name on it.”

Nora rolled her eyes playfully. “How was I supposed to know it was you though? You could have been Ray Palmer's assistant or something.”

“Ah. Too true. You got me there.” He smiled and nodded back at her.

“Also, asking out random girls in the elevator? Is that how you pick up all your dates or am I one of a kind?”

Ray looked bashful, a blush colored his cheeks. “I promise you are the first. I actually meant to apologize about how I asked you out. It was super forward and weird. But, I don’t know, I guess I had the feeling that you were someone I would definitely want to see again.”

Nora couldn’t contain her smile. That was one of the cheesiest things she had ever heard in her life. But, somehow, coming from Ray, it made sense. She bought it. After a beat Nora chimed in again. “I don’t know I guess I expected you to pull out all the stops. Take me to some fancy restaurant and order the most expensive thing on the menu, and just spend way too much money in general and act all braggy about it. This is nice though, way better than anything I would have to squeeze into a dress for.”

“I’m glad. When people expect that usually they get mad when it’s not what they get.”

Nora bumped her shoulder on his. “I don’t mind at all.” 

“I just really hate those kind of dates. First dates should be about getting to know a person, not showboating. It always feels like I’m a salesperson for myself .” He put on an infomercial announcer voice. “‘If you sign up for a date with Ray Palmer in the next two hours he will buy you a free car!’”

Nora laughed. “Does this mean I’m getting a new car?”

Ray leaned in closer and looked at her. “Depends. Am I getting a second date?”

“Hmmm. Depends on if I’m getting that car.”   
  


He chuckled. 

Nora, never quite knowing when enough is enough, continued to tease him. “I mean come on Palmer, this date has been great and all but how many till you start paying my rent?”

“I’m not sure. But maybe we could find out?” He smiled tentatively, hoping that she liked him as much as he did her. 

“I would really like that.” Nora slid her hand over the top of his and she felt something close to a spark.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ray and Nora grow closer, and Nora grows more anxious about Ray finding out her secret.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is literally just fluff so buckle up for that. i promise the next update will be much more plot driven. speaking of the next update should be like friday or saturday!
> 
> also, the feedback i have gotten so far has meant SO MUCH TO ME! I CHERISH AND LOVE EVERY COMMENT!!
> 
> hope you enjoy this chapter :)

They grew closer as time went by. Their first date was nothing like what Nora could have ever imagined but in the absolute best way possible. After that there was no question about whether or not she would be seeing him again. 

On their next date he took her to a museum. An art museum, not the boring history ones. Ray very clearly googled some of the artists before coming and thought he could flaunt this knowledge to impress her. Nora was surprised that he didn’t make flash cards. While Nora did know quite a bit about art she was far from snobby about it like so many others. So, instead of allowing him to carry on in the not very well put on sharade, Nora just asked him which pieces were his favorites. She wanted to remember if there were any trends in what he liked so she could make him something that he would like. Afterwards they stopped at an ice cream place down the street, both taking bites out of each others bowls as they leaned in closer at a too small table. 

Nora left somewhat disappointed. She loved the date and Ray was just as sweet and dorky as he was the first time but she wished he would make more of a move. He was the perfect gentleman and never made her feel uncomfortable but the most they had done was hold hands. She knew that a week ago she didn’t even no Ray and it wasn’t wrong of him to want to take things slow but the more she got to know him, the more she wanted to slam on the gas pedal. 

\-----

Their next date was put together by Nora. Which in hindsight should have been a warning sign that it was going to end in disaster. 

There was going to be a huge music festival in the same park where they had their first date. Honestly it was the type of thing she would take Charlie to, but she had found herself wanting to spend more time with Ray. There was a sense of urgency around it; like Rays time was something she had to cherish because it was bound to fall apart soon. 

For a week and a half before the festival it was nothing but clear skies and warm weather. It seemed as though spring had fully changed into summer. Everything was going to be fine. Nora was sure of it. 

That was all until the darkest cloud possible rolled over the entire city. It was almost laughable. Of course when Nora plans a date it is in the middle of a freak storm. 

As soon as the first drop hit the ground Ray was already taking off his jacket to drape over her. Nora tried to resist it at first but if there was one thing she had learned about Ray from their short time together it was that there was nothing that could stop him from doing the gentlemanly thing. People were running in all different directions, trying to get to tents meant for shade from the sun that was now nowhere to be seen. Many others made their way to the parking lot ready to leave, but they settled for an out of the way tent. 

Nora peeled Rays jacket off her back as soon as they were out of the rain. It had gotten so wet it did more harm than good at that point. “I’m sorry,” she said as she handed it back to him. “This is all my fault.”

She could have sworn she heard Ray laugh, which Nora thought was very rude. She knew her attempt at a date was pathetic but there was no need to rub her nose in it. 

“Nora, don’t blame yourself for this. Last time I checked you can’t control the weather.”

_ Well I haven’t tried to before,  _ Nora thought to herself before she shook the thought out of her head. “It’s just all so fitting. This has been the first time I actually care about stuff like this in a long time. Of course I screw it up.”

Ray put his hand on her shoulder and pulled her into a hug. “Trust me it is far from ruined. It’s actually kinda romantic.”

Nora turned towards Ray, still close, nearly pressed up against him. “Of course I can count on you to make it sound like everything is straight from a romcom. Although, getting caught in the rain is a lot more miserable than exciting.”

Ray smirked at her. “I still think there’s time for that to change.”

He somehow moved closer still and Nora eased onto her tiptoes to meet her lips to his somewhere in the middle. Much like her first date with Ray it was better than she ever could have expected. He pulled her up into his arms until her feet left the sopping grass below her. 

When they both finally pulled away from the kiss, still embraced in the other person's arms, Ray looked down at her dreamily. “What do you say we get somewhere warm?” 

Nora nodded as they prepared to brave the cold rain once again. 

Ray had made sure she had warm clothes and fussed over making her hot chocolate when they were finally out of the rain. They spent the rest of the night curled up in each other as they watch the rain drip down the windows of Rays penthouse.

\-----

Nora could barely remember a time she was this stressed out. No, it wasn’t her dads antics that were getting to her, no plans to bring about the end of the world. Ray wanted her to meet his friends.

She had never been the best at first impressions or coming off like she was a normal person at all. Nora really like Ray. He was far more than just a fling. Nora had spent nights at his penthouse and seemed to want to spend every moment of time that wasn’t consumed by her father or the magic work she did for him. She would come up to his lab (he had given her clearance, which strangely meant a lot to her) and watch him work, drowning in the surge of affection she felt for him everytime his eyebrows raised or he scrunched up his nose. Nora was in too deep now. When she looks back on it she wonders if she even had a chance. She really was a goner to begin with. 

Nora also had never struggled with caring what people thought about her. She was always so content with being a loner that trying to impress anyone didn’t even occur to her. It was clear that Ray was so excited for her to finally meet everyone and she didn’t want him to be disappointed. 

A different kind of fear still lurked in the back of her mind. Not fear that Ray's friends wouldn’t like her, but about her father. Nora had lived by the idea that the fewer people who were in her life the better. It meant there was less of a chance that her two lives would somehow be crossed and she’d be left with neither of them. 

It was supposed to be a casual thing. Not some huge party that was planned in advance. Ray had called her when he was out to lunch and told her he was going to get drinks with his friends after work and it would mean a lot to him if she came and met everyone. 

Nora had tried her best to talk him out of inviting her along. “Are you sure I’m not butting in? You deserve time with your friends I know you haven’t seen them in a while. It’s okay if you want to go out without me, I don’t want you to feel like you have to.” She spurted off reason after reason for why she should just have a quiet night in. 

“Nora,” he interrupted, “I want you there. And my friends do too. I’ve been told that I talk about you quite a lot, Nate said it was getting annoying, and they want to meet you in person. Unless if you really don’t want to meet them?”

“No! Of course I want to meet them… I just don’t think I’m the best at first impressions and I don’t want to put you in a tough spot if they aren’t the biggest fans of me.”

“Don’t worry about it Nora. I’m sure they will love you. It’s actually pretty hard not to like you…” 

“Ugh barf, you’re being too sweet again,” Nora said sarcastically. She took a deep breath as she heard Ray laugh through her phone speaker. “I’ll be there. I love you.”

It was far from the first time they had said it, but every time they did it still felt like magic. 

“I love you too.”

\-----

Ray wasn’t wrong. They did all take a liking to Nora fairly quickly. By the time they left the bar she had heard seven new stories from college that Ray hadn't told her (mostly told by Nate to embarrass his friend) and already made plans to hang out with Zari in the next week (something told Nora Charlie and her would hit it off).

Drinks with Rays friends soon became a weekly event as they also became Nora’s friends. It was different and weird to have more than one person in her contacts she could call when she wanted to blow off some steam. She didn't have a firm grasp on what having friends meant until now and she couldn’t get enough. Even when Sara made inappropriate jokes at the wrong times, Mick had a few too many beers, and Nate made gagging noises whenever she and Ray kissed, they all started to feel like family to her. 

That's the problem though. Nora had never been good at families and her real, blood related family, made being purely happy so hard. No matter what was happening, who she was with, and where, she always felt a nagging in the back of her mind that it could all be taken away If they figured out who she truly was. 

Before everything was so simple. She and Ray were playing house in their own little bubble but now they were actually building some sort of a life together. It was all becoming more and more real. 

At the three month mark, when spring turned to summer, they took another big step towards something real. 

Ray had been slammed with work during his lunch break but told Nora to come to the penthouse after he was done for the day. He had a surprise for her. 

When Nora walked through the door she found Ray trying to arrange flowers on the lab table. The same lab table where she liked to watch him work. 

“Surprise!” he said quickly, as he realized that she had walked in. 

Nora took steps closer trying to see the surprise for herself. 

On the table near the window he had set up an easel for her. The shelving under the countertop was now full of paints, oil crayons, and any other art supply that Nora could think of. On top of the table was a bouquet of flowers. “Ray? What is all of this?” Nora asked with a smile already creeping across her face. 

“Well, you always spend so much time here watching me work and I know you said that you like to, but I wanted to make this a workplace for you too. Now you don’t have to go home when you want to work on a project. It’s all here for you. This can be a home now too.”

_ Home.  _ That was a word Nora tried not to think about too often. She had never really had one, or at least hasn’t for a long time. But hearing Ray say it, and seeing how much he meant it, all made it seem so right. It made perfect sense that her home was with him. She didn’t want it to be anywhere else. 

She tried to hold tears back. This gesture meant more to her than he knew. Ray opened his arms and pulled Nora into a hug as she whispered ‘thank you’ into his chest on repeat. 

“There’s something else too.” Ray said quietly into her hair. Nora really didn’t think she could take much more. 

He guided her to his room and opened a drawer in the chest on the opposite wall of his bed. Ray opened it and it was completely empty save for a key with a ribbon wrapped around it. “I know Mona is usually around to let you in but this way I felt it was more official. You are always welcome here.”

Nora reached out and picked up the key and held it close to her chest. 

“The drawer is for you too. I want you to have a place to keep some of your stuff. Only if you want to that is. I just want this to be like a second home to you.”

There he goes with that word again. His voice saying it felt so soft and smooth as it was embodying the meaning of the word. Nora only wanted him to say it more. It made her feel peaceful, safe even. She wrapped her arms back around him again, wanting the savor the feeling. 

“So… I assume you like it?”

Nora let out a laugh, more carefree than she ever remembered. “Yes. I love it.”

Later that night, while they were lying in bed, she got a message from her father. Telling her to get to his warehouse ASAP. Her heart dropped. Nora was so caught up in the idea of Ray and their home together that it was easy to forget there was another life she still had to live. 

Nora made up a convincing excuse about Charlie needing help with something before she left. Ray seemed slightly sad but he understood. He always does. 

\-----

The months passed by and Ray and Nora continued to live happily. It was more happy than Nora could have ever imagined her life being. She couldn’t remember a time she had felt so loved and cherished. 

Just because Nora’s life with Ray continued, didn’t mean her life with her father was put on hold. She continued to have make up excuse after excuse for reasons she had to leave because he had sent her a message telling her to meet him at the warehouse. Nora hated it so much. She hated the fact that she worked for him. Every night she asked herself why she didn’t just stop, stand up for herself. He was the one who left her, she owed him nothing. It used to be because she didn’t have a family and he was all she had left, but now she had Ray. Nora was being reminded of what a real family should be like everyday. 

There was another reason Nora never left her father in the dust. Nora had a part of her that was magic, a part of her she wanted to be able to understand. The only key to harnessing her magic was through her fathers training. Even though she got the magic from him, a person she wanted nothing to do with, it was a part of her. Nora felt empty without it. 

At the end of the day, that’s the thing Nora was the most ashamed of not telling Ray. Not about who her father was, because she never felt like that was truly her, but about her magic. Something that she felt made her who she was. 

Ray always understood when she had to leave. He did it his fair share too, but his reasons were never made up. It was just his work that needed doing. And his work was something that helped people. His company was more than smartphones. It was charities and donations to hospitals, schools, and libraries. 

When Nora ignored the nagging feeling in the back of her mind that was too loud on the occasion she was happy. Happier than she ever thought she could be. 

\-----

Nora had gone home with Ray for the holidays and things went surprisingly well. She knew he didn't often get along with his parents, which was something that she understood all too well, but he was only stressed they would make more than a few inappropriate comments. Somehow they weren’t proud of Ray for all he’s become and still found places to nit pick and criticize. Surprisingly, they couldn’t find flaws with her. Which was quite the shock to Nora as she never seemed to have amazing first impressions. 

A few weeks after Thanksgiving weekend (which she thankfully got out of with her dad), Ray started acting strange. He was one of the most scatter brained people she had ever met, which was something Nora loved. It was as if he had too many thoughts running around for even his big brain to be able to catch up. So, his behavior wasn’t insane or totally out of character but it felt different than usual. Like he was hiding something from her. But Ray wasn’t the type to keep secrets so Nora assumed it was problems at work. 

Charlie had tried to tell her his behavior meant something special. She rattled on and on about the different things he could be planning, anything from a vacation to Paris, or him asking Nora to officially move it. Nora refused to let herself think about it for too long or she might combust while thinking about the possibilities. It was much easier to assume it was nothing. 

For their next date night Ray had chosen to take her on a picnic, much like their first date, in the same park even, but this time it would mean smores and hot chocolate around a fire, as it was fairly late into the winter. He had been sure to bring blankets and an extra pair of gloves just in case. Thankfully it wasn’t too cold so they were more than comfortable curled up next to each other. 

They sat together, happily in conversation, about anything and everything they could think of. The two of the, giggled back and forth at jokes that weren’t funny but they were just too happy to keep a straight face. It was night time and the park was empty, the only thing the fire could illuminate was them, making it all too easy to believe that they were the only people on earth. Ray found himself getting lost in the way the orange light danced in Nora's eyes. Nora couldn’t help but notice how the light of the fire made the few freckles Ray had stand out, and how the edges of his hair seemed yellow. It was a sight neither of them ever wanted to stop seeing. 

Nora let out a yawn, ready for the night to be nearly over, to retire to his apartment. But before she could say so, Ray looked at her like all of the strange feelings he’s been having the past few weeks were about to spill out. She looked back at him, ready to hear what he had to say. 

“Nora, I-”

His phone rang. Ray sighed, frustrated as the moment was ruined as he pulled his phone out the silence it so he could continue. 

Nora looked up at him expectantly. It was clear he had something important for him to say but as he looked at his phone screen his face dropped. She knew what that meant. 

“I have to go.” He sadly said. 

Nora looked shocked and maybe a little upset as they were planning on spending the night together, as they do most of the time. But this had also happened before. They both had a tendency of needing to leave dates early so this wasn’t anything new. 

“Okay,” she said. “I’ll go back to my place for tonight, but I’ll see you tomorrow?” 

“Yes,” Ray said all too fast. “Of course. I’m so sorry Nora. I really wanted to-”

Nora shoved a finger to his lips. “Don’t worry about it. It happens.”

She slumped down on her blanket when he left, wondering what he had to say before they were interrupted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you enjoyed this chapter! :) 
> 
> leave a comment if you liked it!!
> 
> (next update will be either friday or saturday)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nora wakes up the next morning. Ray is nowhere to be found

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay now its time for actual plot!!!! 
> 
> next update should be sometimes next week! now that i got all the establishing stuff out of the way there's less rush to get it uploaded so they might be a bit slower
> 
> hope you like it :)

Nora was really starting to get worried.

Ray had been known to leave dates in a hurry sometimes. He was always so scatterbrained and in his line of work it wasn’t too difficult to forget about things that need to get done. Nora never blamed him, god knows she couldn't, especially because she does the same thing to go out and help her dad. But now, things were getting weird. Whenever he got last minute emails from employees or his fancy corporate partners she didn’t understand and had to leave the way he did last night, he always met her back at her place within a few hours. If for some reason he couldn’t see her again that night he left her dozens of sorry voicemails for her to wake up to. 

This morning Nora woke up. No Ray. No voicemails. Not even a single text. 

When she tried to reach out to him but all she found was his answering machine. 

Nora tried not to get too worried. Maybe he just forgot or fell asleep at his desk again. But, all of her anxieties weren’t entirely gone, as she got ready to go find him and was out the door in a quick ten minutes. 

Even as she was approaching the Palmer Tech building she still felt a sickening twist in her gut. Something was just not right. The nerves made her push a little harder than usual on the gas. When she rounded the corner, nothing from outside the building seemed off, it looked like it did any other day. It was almost calming to see that something was normal but she knew that it didn’t matter how pristine it looked, there could always be something lying beneath. 

Everyone in the lobby was attending to their normal business. Waiting for the elevator Nora didn’t see anyone she thought looked shifty. It just looked like a normal Thursday for the boring suits working nine to five. She was so lost in thought that the elevator dinging as it opened made her jump. As the elevator climbed and climbed to the second to top floor, Rays office, the feeling in her stomach dropped lower and lower. 

Mona, Rays assistant, greeted her with the same smile as she got off the elevator. “Wheres Ray? Has he come in yet?” Nora hadn’t meant for the words to come out as harsh as they did. Nerves were starting to get the best of her. 

“Nope. I assumed he was in the penthouse still.” Mona said, unfazed by Noras severe tone.

Instead of getting in the elevator again, Nora opted for the stairs. If her legs were longer she would have been taking them two at a time. She couldn’t explain this urge to make sure Ray was okay. There were plenty of logical explanations as to why he wouldn’t have called or picked up his phone when she did, but all her brain wanted to think about was the worst case scenario. 

She checked the entire top floor of the Palmer Tech building. It is the only place Ray Palmer spent his time when he wasn’t in his office, in a meeting, or with her. He wasn’t there. It didn’t look any different from the last time she had been there a little over twenty four hours ago. The blankets on his bed were even in the same position as they were when they woke up yesterday morning. 

Her phone buzzed, pulled Nora out of her own head. It was a text from her dad. Ugh, she really did not have time to deal with whatever he needed from her today. 

_ Get here. Now.  _

She squinted at her screen. This text seemed more intense than usual. Her dad was already a pretty intense guy so that was saying something. But, right now finding Ray was more important than whatever her dads next scheme was. 

_ Can’t. Busy. _

Nora texted it in a rush so she could get back to finding Ray. but before she could even jam her phone back in her pocket, or at least turn it on silent, she got another text.

_ Nora, this is something you’re gonna want to see.  _

She sighed at looked at the ceiling. Nora knew he wasn’t going to leave her alone until she came to see whatever it was that he was talking about.

_ Fine. On my way. _

Nora took a deep breath. Her nerves about Ray haven't calmed down since this morning and she would really rather get to the bottom of what happened to him. He left in such a hurry last night, which he does a lot, but it seemed extra strange. She thought something was really wrong when he left and it seems things didn’t exactly get better. She didn’t even normally get this upset and paranoid when he didn’t contact her the next day but something in her gut told her there was trouble.  _ He’s probably fine,  _ Nora thought. 

So, Nora left the building, telling Mona he wasn’t there but was gonna keep looking and not to worry, which is something she is quite prone to do, got on her motorcycle and went to her dads warehouse. 

The warehouse was where her father lived and ‘ran his business’, as he liked to call it. Turns out, when you're a criminal who is presumed dead for twenty years who comes back and plans to continue being a criminal, it's hard to get someone to want to rent you office space. 

The whole ride over a jittery feeling overtook her. Every stoplight felt like an eternity. By the time she got to her destination her hands were shaking slightly and she still didn’t even know why she was so nervous. She took one more deep breath before she walked in. Nora didn’t want to be put in the position of having to explain to her dad why she was acting so strange. She had learned a long time ago that she had to keep her personal life and her secret life as separate as possible. 

“Dad! What did you want me to see?” She said as she entered the room. 

Her dad came out of one of the many rooms. The word rooms was used loosely. They were only cubicles that had makeshift walls made out of crates and curtains. This was usually where her father kept prisoners, or as he liked to call them ‘visitors’. It wasn’t that far off from the truth because no one who had the pleasure of staying there was exactly there for an extended stay. Nora never saw them leave, or at least what had become of them. It was just another thing about her dad she tried not to think about too much. 

“Last night I found something that we have been working toward for quite some time.”

Nora wished he could take the ‘we’ out of that sentence. It had been so long since she actually took any joy in helping her dad and all she wanted now was a way out, not to be associated with him any more than she had to be. The thought of it made her stomach turn with disappointment at her past self. But, the cheeriness in his voice made that queasy feeling get ten times worse. Nora couldn’t remember the last time she heard her father this happy, and she knew well enough that what made him happy always made someone else miserable.    
  


“And that is?” Nora asked. The anticipation was killing her. Not in a child on Christmas morning way, but something closer to watching a horror movie when you know that the masked killer is hiding in the same closet the usually stupid protagonist is going into. 

He grabbed her arm with the same intensity as his stare and pulled her towards the room he had just walked out of. 

“We finally got him Nora doll.”

He pulled open the curtain.

“The ATOM”

Nora heart dropped lower than it ever had before. It was free falling fifty stories at a hundred miles an hour. Her head went fuzzy with bewilderment and confusion as she failed to comprehend what she was seeing in front of her. It didn’t make sense. It couldn’t make sense.

In front of her, tied to a chair, with a gag threaded through his busted open lip, was Ray Palmer. 

This was far worse than any bad thing her mind was conjuring up while she was looking for him not even twenty minutes before. What her wild, anxiety driven imagination could come up with was a light wave lapping against her toes and reality was a tsunami that pulled her under the current until she couldn't breathe any longer. 

He was the one her father had been hunting down this whole time. The one that made the news for saving people from her father's schemes that put them in danger. He was the hero the whole time. 

His eyes widened when he saw her and he said something that to the trained ear sounded like her name, but was absolute gibberish when spoken through the gag. Nora sent him a look that she hoped was laced with a message telling him to stay quiet.

Either that glare or the look of fear Nora knew must have been seeping through got him to stop trying to talk. If he said her name her father would know that they knew each other which could be dangerous for both of them. 

Her father clicked his tongue. “Ray Palmer. You’ve been quite busy haven’t you? It all makes sense in hindsight. You’re a smart guy, definitely smart enough to make the suit, but also smart enough to know you’d get caught at some point.”

Ray pulled against the ropes in some sort of useless defiance. 

“Oh my, how rude of me, I hadn’t even introduced you to my daughter yet.” He shoved Nora's shoulder, pushing her forward, when all she wanted to do was get Ray and get as far away from here as possible. “I know I've told you so much about her.”

Rays puffy, bruised, eyes widened. He always wore his emotions on his sleeve and this was no different. Nora couldn’t bare to look at him without sobbing so she opted to look at the floor. She was ashamed. Nora already hated the fact that she worked with her dad but now that had hurt the person that she loved the most. It turns out he was a hero, she was still in shock but it really was quite fitting, and she was the villain. She had caused him so much hurt. This all wasn’t fair to him. Nora knew he loved her back and now he had to be faced with the truth, that the woman he loves has caused people so much pain, that she wasn’t good enough for him. 

“Now Nora, I have other matters to attend to around here. Give him the business while I’m gone.” He looks at Ray. “Trust me Palmer. She doesn't go easy.”

As soon as he left Nora put up the same spell she did any time she was left with the prisoners. It made anyone within hearing distance here noises that might be something close to torture, so her father would think she was doing her job if he decided to linger in the warehouse.

She turned to Ray. “I’m so sorry,” she repeated over and over again as she got to work on untieing him. Tears started to well up in her eyes. 

As soon as he was able to speak again he said “Nora, what's going on?”

Nora, glad she was still behind him, working on the knots around his wrists, so she wouldn’t have to look him in the eyes. 

“I- I know I have a lot of explaining to do.”

She completed untying the knots but he stayed seated as he was. Nora walked back around, taking in a deep breath before confronting him again. 

“I guess I do too.” he said 

Nora knelt down in front of him to get a better look that the shiner he was now sporting on his right eye. She placed he fingers gently on the swollen edges, he winced slightly under her touch but then sank into it. “What did he do to you?” she asked. She already knew the answer but wished she could be blissfully unaware of what her father could do. 

“Nothing I couldn’t handle.” Ray said, placing his hand over hers, trying to comfort her even though she was far from deserving of it. 

She focused all of her energy and tried to heal him. Her father hadn’t exactly taught her that kind of magic, it wasn’t something that benefited him, but she knew that she could do it. Her fingers flowed a purple hue and the skin under them repaired itself, turning it from the dark purple welt to the same light skin it once was. 

“Nora?” Ray asked, confused. “What was that?”

“Part of the explaining I have to do,” she said. “But right now you need to get out of here.” 

“What?” He looked at her, eyes wide. “Nora at least tell me what's happening. I’m not going to leave you here alone.” He pulled her hand down from his face and held it in both of his hands. 

Nora couldn't bare to spill into the nasty details herself right now, she was more worried about Rays safety.

“That can all be explained later. It will be. I promise.” She had to. As much as it would hurt it is what he deserved. “But right now you need to leave. He’s only kept you around this long because of how much time he’s spent trying to hunt you down. As soon as he gets bored of having you as a prisoner you're dead.” She rushed out the words as quickly as possible. It felt like if she didn’t get the words out fast enough they would suffocate her from the inside out. She had to keep him safe.

Ray was always so brave but she saw him falter, fear clouded his eyes as he grimaced at her. “If he’s that dangerous I just can’t leave you with him. You have to come with me.” He was pleading with her. Faint tears now coated his eyes.

“No. If I leave with you now he’ll know I let you escape.” It was difficult to get the words out in between shaking breaths. Nora still was hoping that none of this was real. That it was just a strange hyper realistic nightmare that she would wake up from. She would look next to her and Ray would be in bed with his arms wrapped around her. His tears would be gone and he would be smiling at her the way he always did. For a second Nora feared that she might never see him smile at her like that again after what he had learned today. All of it was so overwhelming. 

Ray wasn’t wearing the ATOM suit, her father must have taken it. She focused hard, closing her eyes with her hand still in Rays, on the ATOM suit, what she remembered what it looked like from pictures. She had only used this kind of teleporting magic a few times, it took a lot of power but now it was important. Thankfully, the shrunken version then appeared in her other hand. She took it and pressed it into Rays hand. 

“Get out of here. Go back to Palmer Tech. Tell Mona is get more security at your floor and tell her not to let in anyone but me.”

If her father knew who Ray was now that meant he wasn’t safe anymore. There was no mask that was going to hide him. 

“Nora-”

“Ray, please just listen to me. I’ll be there in an hour or two I promise.”

She could tell he really didn’t want to. He wanted to protect her, make sure nothing hurts her. But she isn’t the one in danger. He is. 

He squeezed her hand tightly before pulling away. “Okay… okay.” It was clear his brain was still trying to understand everything he saw. It took all Nora had not to think too much on how he must be feeling, because she knew that if she did she would feel worse than she did now. She couldn’t imagine what he thought of her. 

Ray suited up. Before he shrank down and left Nora told him to send a few blasts at the crates surrounding them, leaving loud bangs hanging in the air, surely enough for her father to hear. She shooed him out of the room, then pressed her hand to her eye. Nora harnessed her magic and did the same transformation magic she did to go undercover on missions, giving herself a black eye. She knew that Ray would never do anything to cause it but her father didn’t. Nora ran outside of the makeshift prison cell and was greeted by her father, who heard the commotion. 

“Nora! What happened?”

“I think there’s a reason it took us two years to find him. He’s strong.” Nora wished that she had to try harder to make her voice sound shaken, but she could stop thinking about Ray. 

“We’ve worked so hard! how could you let him slip through our fingers? I shouldn’t have trusted you with him! I’m disappointed in you.”

Of course he would jump right to blaming her. Nora’s ashamed to admit that there was a time that guilt tripped worked. It was closer to when he came back. She had been all too eager to be the good daughter that her mom had convinced her he deserved. She had been told over and over again that even with her dad gone she should work to make him proud, when he came back it seemed like a chance to prove herself but, it soon became clear that she didn’t want to be the person who he would be proud of. she wanted to be better than that. Meeting Ray only solidified the lingering doubts. 

All Nora could bring herself to do was roll her eyes and say, “Look, I know I screwed this up, but we know who he is now. You stay here I’ll go find him again.”

“Are you sure-?” her dad tried to cut in. 

“I’m the one who messed this up, I’m the one who will go and fix it.” Fixing the problem of Ray now not being kidnapped wasn’t what she was thinking about at all, she needed to somehow fix what had happened. Nora knew that Ray must hate her now but she had to go and try to set things right. 

The thought of Ray never wanting to see her again crossed her mind. It didn’t seem impossible, in fact it was probably the most likely thing that could happen. She turned and walked out as fast as she could before her father could see the tears welling in her eyes. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ray and Nora both have some explaining to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope you guys like this chapter!!! 
> 
> next update should be sometime this weekend (maybe sunday??)
> 
> I hope yall like this chapter! please leave comments and kudos if you do!

“Nora what happened?” Mona rushed up to her and she approached the desk she worked at. 

If only she could answer that question. 

It all seemed so lucid and out of place that there was no way that it could have been real. Her the life she lived with her dad and the life she lived when she was being herself, with Ray, those two things stayed separate. They had to. Or else they would both end up in flames. The chaos from her father influence would destroy everything good that she had built. Nora knew that it really was a ticking time bomb, a volcano ready to erupt. It always had been. The real life she lived, the one she now shared with Ray, the one that made her happy and content, was doomed to fail from the start. 

Instead of unloading that onto Mona, Nora blankly said, “It’s complicated okay? I’ll fill you in later.” and pushed past her to the staircase that led up to Rays penthouse. 

Nora had spent the whole ride over siking herself up in her head, coming up with the perfect way to explain this to Ray that even though he would most definitely not want to see her again, he at least wouldn’t totally hate her guts. She had tried to calm herself down, trying her hardest to treat this like it was any old lovers quarrel to get even a glimpse at the normalcy that had been pulled out from under her.  _ You’re just going to go in there and… have a talk, like adults. You will be level headed and explain the best you can what happened and hope for the best, _

she had thought to herself over and over again, as she tried to shut out the surges of emotions that were threatening to take over. 

That pep talk didn’t seem to matter as soon as she saw him.

Ray was just pacing around the living room, wringing his hands together, like she had seen him do a million times as he tried to think about plans for a new invention or ideas for the company. The second she saw him she burst into tears. She had been holding them back for so long she forgot that they were even there.

He turned and saw her from the other side of the room. Without a second thought he ran to Nora and pulled her to him. 

Nora wanted to scream at him to stop. She didn’t deserve any comfort that he could give. She hurt him. 

She pulled away as soon as those thoughts flooded her mind. Rays comforts always meant the world to her, but now all they did was leave a sour taste in her mouth. It could be the last time he ever held her like this. She took two steps back and stared at the fraying laces on her shoes, not even bringing herself to look him in the eye. 

“Nora,” Ray said as he rested his hand on her cheek, letting thumb rest under her chin, gently guiding her to look up at him. It had taken everything Nora had to pull away from him before and it seemed almost impossible to do it now. “What happened?”

“I’m so sorry.”

That was the only thing that she could think of. It was the only thing that she could say that wasn’t so damn complicated. 

“I’m so sorry. I know you must hate me right now. I’m sorry I lied and that I let all of this happen. I promise I never meant to hurt you” Nora repeated those few sentiments until they seemed to lose their meaning but she had to say it until they stuck, until they were the only words in her mind. 

“Hey, hey, hey,” Ray brushed the tears from her cheeks. She could see them starting to form in his eyes as well “You don’t have to apologize.”

“But-” Nora tried to interject weakly, trying to tell him how wrong he was. She had been working for the thorn in his side for the past two years and lying about it for months. How is that something anyone can walk away from without anything as much as a simple apology?

Ray shook his head slightly before continuing. Clearly he also had things he had to say. “I’m not angry with you. Upset and more than a little confused? Yeah.”

Nora found that hard to believe but took comfort in it anyways. She took slower deeper breaths as she calmed down.

“I promise Ray... I- I can explain everything. It just… is all really complicated.” Even though she was much calmer than she was before, the words still came out shakey.

Ray smiled sadly at her and guided her to sit on the couch. “I wouldn’t expect anything less.”

There she sat, trying her hardest to put distance between her and him as possible, so maybe it would be easier when they were no longer close enough to measure the distance, as she explained everything to him. Every gritty detail from her past that came to mind. She talked about how her father had been presumed dead, how she had spent her whole life raised by a mother of idolized him so that when he came back it it seemed like it was nothing less than a miracle, and how it had been all too easy for her to fall in with his ‘business’. Nora told him about her magic, how it connected her to her father, and how she had always loved it as a kid even though it confused her because he was never around to show her how to use it. But, as she got to know her father the love she had for her abilities had changed, it no longer seemed like a gift. The last thing Nora said was by far the most important to her. 

“I need you to know that I never meant to hurt you Ray. I wasn’t trying to get close to you for my fathers sake or anything like that. This wasn’t some sort of set up. I was never lying when I was with you, maybe about where I was or what I was doing, but never about who I am or how I felt about you.”

Ray just sat next to her, listening intently, nodding along with her own retelling of her life. He didn’t interject, which Nora didn’t know if that was a good or bad thing. He didn’t look mad. Well, Ray never looked mad so she wasn’t even sure what that would look like, but she really was glad that she didn’t have to find out. 

When she was done he took a deep breath, placed his hand on top of hers, and said the one thing that Nora was not expecting. “You’re amazing.”

For a second Nora thought that he was hard of hearing. Maybe he just didn’t understand. Had she been confusing when she was telling him everything? This would make any person run for the hills, say that she was the villian, or see her as broken. But Ray was beaming. A hint of sadness still roamed across his face but it was nearly invisible from the look of what seemed to be pride that he was wearing. “What are you talking about?”

“I already knew that you were strong. That was clear from the day I met you. I knew that it had to come from somewhere, that fight, that spark in you. But now I know that it’s literally magic.”

Nora knew the fact that she had magic would be kind of a shock, but she hardly thought that it was the most important thing that she said. “Ray, what about… all of the rest? My-my dad-”

“Doesn’t matter.” He said it with so much finality that Nora could almost see herself believing in its truth. “I like to think I know your dad pretty well, considering I’ve spent the past two years trying to take him down, and I can say with complete certainty that you are nothing like him.”

“But I still work with him. I help him.”

He pulled her closer to him. “Don’t talk yourself down like that Nora. You are not some evil psycho. You said it yourself, you don’t want to work with him. The situation is a lot more complicated than good and bad.”

“I’m the one would did bad things Ray.” Nora reminded him.

“You didn’t want to hurt people. It just sounded like you wanted your father back, which isn’t a crime, it’s human. And now, together, we can stop him. You can make up for your past. It doesn’t have to weigh you down like this.”

Nora didn’t feel like she should be able to be getting off this easy. She had lied for months about being a criminal. She lied about who she was. At the very least Ray should at least be considering kicking her out right now. She didn’t want Ray to be mad, she just felt like it was what she deserved. Now, she was grasping at straws, trying to find something that might make this man crack. 

“I lied,” She said weakly.

Ray shrugged. Her head, which was resting on his shoulder, bobbed up and down with it. “So did I. It would be hypocritical if I got mad about that.”

“How are you not upset right now?” 

“I am. I’m really upset that you had to go through this, that you felt pressured to join your father, that you feel you deserve some punishment from all of this. But, I’m not upset with you. I know you Nora. No matter what you tell me I will always love the Nora I know.”

He leaned his head down as she angled her up as he pulled her into a kiss. A kiss that Nora didn’t know she needed until it was happening, comfort she would have shrugged away if it hadn’t been given to her. The whole day had been chaotic and emotional. Not even two hours ago she thought her whole world had come crashing down, that by tonight she wouldn’t have anything left. But now she was here, with Ray, being held, being loved by him. Nora could finally find herself relaxing, believing that everything would be okay, that no matter what she would never really, truly, be alone again. 

She pulled away, nuzzling her head against his shoulder. “So, a superhero huh?” A sly smirk spread across Nora’s face. 

Ray grinned down at her with a shy sense of pride. He nodded slowly. 

“It suits you.” Nora pecked a kiss to his cheek. 

It really had. Ray had always been so kind and selfless, she couldn’t think of anyone better to be a hero. To be someone who swooped in and saved the day. At times it felt like he had done that for her too many times to count. When he had come into her life she was at a crossroads, unsure about her dad, the world, and her place in it. Meeting Ray had showed her that people were good, and made her feel like she could be too. 

“It feels good to finally be able to tell you.” Ray shifted out of his seat, pulling Nora off his lap then grabbing her hand. “There’s something else I need to show you.”

Nora let herself be pulled off the couch as she followed him to the innocent enough coat closet that stood near the front door. He opened the door and closed it with both of them inside it.

“If you really wanted to do this Ray we could have just gone to bed.”

Ray chuckled under his breath, “Not quite what this is but good guess.”

He pulled back the coats and on the back wall in the top right corner, too high for Nora to even reach, was some sort of control pad. Ray slapped his hand down on it and it lit up green. The itself turned like it was a revolving door and suddenly they were in a room that Nora didn’t recognize. 

Nora had spent just about every other night of the past six months in this penthouse, she thought she knew it like the back of her hand, but apparently there were more than a few secrets.

The room around her looked like something straight out of a sci-fi movie that Ray had made her watch. There were long silver work benches covered in scraps from projects and tools. Many of the table tops were touch screens that showed equations or blueprints. In the corner of the room was a large glass case with a manikin that was sporting the ATOM suit. Plans and ideas for updates appeared in a light blue on the glass, highlighting the parts that needed attention

“Woah,” Nora said. “And here I thought your lab was impressive.”

Ray shrugged, still smiling at her. This was a new side of him that she hadn’t gotten to see, and he was obviously more than happy to be showing it to her. He dived straight into rambling, as he was known to do. “Well yeah, I guess I could have worked on all of this in my regular lab but I felt it would seem a little bit obvious to just have all of my gear and my suit just laying out. Also I always thought it was really cool when superheros had their own, like lair, I guess you would call it…”

She knew that she should have been listening, that this was something very important to Ray but she couldn't help herself but get distracted at the things she saw around her. Nora was never quite the science person, she had at hoped that after being with Ray for as long as she had been made her at least a bit knowledgeable, and it was clear that the tech that was hiding in here was some of the most advanced she had even seen. Even though Ray loved it, she still couldn’t help but only humor him when he got excited about this kind of stuff, but now even she was thinking about the possibilities. Her inner monologue began to sound more and more like her boyfriends excited ramblings. She wondered around the isles and isles of tables covered in some sort of inventions, gadgets she has probably heard her father complain about having to fight against. Nora stopped in front of a small shelf with metal orbs no bigger than a gumball on it sitting on top of one of the desks. A hologram of the gadget sprung from the surface of the table

Ray, who had noticed her growing curiosity in the invention walked over to her. “I actually just finished these a few weeks ago. They knock out anyone in roughly a forty feet radius once activated.” The hologram showed an animation of how activating them worked. All someone had to do was twist the top and bottom like opening a jar. “I made it so it only activates once it is out of range of the original site of activation, so I never have to worry about being in range. I even hooked it up to my suit so can control it from there.” He picked one up and handed it to her. “You might wanna keep a hold of that, just in case.” 

Nora always knew that Ray was protective of the people he cared about but now she supposed that she would have to get used to it on a whole new level. The man was a superhero, he made it his job to protect everyone. Now, since he knew about the potential trouble she could be in with her father Nora knew he would always be looking out for her. She shoved the gadget into the pocket of her leather jacket. 

Ray continued giving her a tour of the “ATOM lab”, as he oh so dorkily put it, until she had seen every corner of it. Nora listened intently as he told her the story of his second life. It was all so spectacular. Seeing this other side of Ray just made her fall in love with him more. It was him the way it was meant to be. Somehow on him, being a superhero seemed natural.

Her second life was a different story. It wasn’t born out of wanting to help people, or any noble cause. Her story was one of fear and cowardice. Nora was trying to push the thoughts of her father out of her mind. She had just been given happiness that she was sure was going to be taken away from her, couldn't she at least enjoy it? 

Ray saw her stiffen. “I know this is a lot Nora, and I’m sorry that I lied about it for so long.”

“I’m not mad Ray. How could I be?” Nora sighed. “You lied about being a superhero, and I’m pretty sure if I asked you why you lied for so long it would be something about protecting me. It’s kind of hard to be all that mad at that. Especially when my lie was a thousand times worse.”

“Well they were both lies. So it’s the same thing really.” 

Nora wanted so bad to tell him that they are most certainly not the same thing. But, she was also sure that he wouldn’t hear it and go along saying that she did nothing wrong, so she just smiled and softly agreed. She let out a long, low sigh before asking “What do we even do now? It’s not safe for you here anymore that he knows who you are.”

“I’m not too worried about that, just more concerned about you.”

“Of course you are, always so damn chivalrous” Nora said, earning a laugh from Ray. “He won’t hurt me. He’s a bad guy, for sure, but he’s my dad. But, I know for a fact that he wants to kill you, like really badly. It’s a little creepy.” She looked down and fiddled with one of the tools on the work bench in front of her. “He got you before. I don’t think he’ll take his sweet time getting the job done if that happens again.” Worry racked her body at the thought of it, of Ray being taken from her. 

Ray clasped his hands over hers. “It won’t happen again, okay? I promise.”

“Don’t go making promises you can’t keep Palmer.” Nora looked up to meet his eyes. “I know your probably gonna say no to this idea, but I think you should leave the city.” 

“But the city needs me. What if something terrible happens and I’m not there to stop it?”

“Ray, your name is on the side of a fucking skyscraper, you aren’t exactly hard to find. My dad knows who you are now. The only reason he hasn’t come bursting through this door ready to put a bullet in your head is because I told him I would be looking for you.” She honestly doubted she was getting through to Ray. He would rather die than run away from a fight like this.

Rays face dropped as she said this. He squeezed her hands slightly. “What is he gonna do when you come back empty handed?” 

“I was hoping that I wasn’t going to come back.”

There was a beat of silence, as they were both lost in thought, trying to untangle the problem set before them. The silence was broken by the loud yawn from Ray. He must have been exhausted if he got caught when he left there date last night. There was no way he got much sleep being held captive. Nora shivered as she thought about what her father could have done to him in those hours.

A plan connected in Nora’s mind. “A while ago you mentioned a house you own right? Some small cabin up in the mountains?” 

“Yeah… we should be safe there.” Ray was catching on to her battle plan in the making. 

“We have to take down my dad but staying here to figure it all out is just going to get you killed and having Star City’s hero out of the way permanently would make it all too easy for my dad to commit atrocities. We can go there and figure out how to take him down.”

Ray yawned again. 

“In the meantime you should get some rest.”

“Nora there’s no time for that right now I’ll be fine.” Ray insisted.

“I have to go to my place to pack a bag anyway. We have no idea how long we will be gone for and I don’t think the few things that I leave here are gonna cut it. I’ll be back in an hour tops and I’ll call if I get caught up. When I get back I’ll wake you up and we can go.” 

Ray didn’t look too happy with that idea. “What if something happens Nora? It can’t be all that safe for you right now. I’ll just come with you”

“My cover will probably last me till way later. He won’t even question me not being there because he still thinks I’m out hunting you down. And again, it’s way more dangerous for you. Here, you have the high ground. It’s your home turf. You have the security teams and all the gadgets you could ask for.”

Ray stilled looked far from pleased. If he was capable of frowning Nora was sure that he would be. 

She squeezed his hands in reassurance. “I’ll be fine.”

A stiff nod was all that she got in response. Even though sometimes his optimistic outlook seemed flawed and outlandish, Ray was a smart guy. Well, obviously, judging by the fact that they were both standing in the middle of a laboratory that looked like it was from the year 2050. He knew that this was probably their best plan of action. “Okay.”

They both left the lab and headed back toward the living room. 

Nora put her hand against his cheek. “I know this is all stressful but try and get some sleep okay? I can see how tired you are.”

Ray nodded and pulled her into his embrace and pressed a kiss into her hair, only to press another on to her lips as she pulled away. She guided him to the couch, pulled a blanket on top of him, and kissed his forehead. 

“I’ll be back in an hour,” Nora said as she was walking out of the front door.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More is revealed as Nora arrives at her apartment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey!! sorry this is up late i have been super busy!!! the next chapter should be up this time next week!! 
> 
> if you liked it please leave kudos and comments!! they mean the world to me :)

The door was left open a crack. 

Nora had locked the door. She was sure of it. This morning she had left in a frenzy, worried about Ray, but she remembered it so well. She remembered feeling the rusted bumps along the cold fake gold paint of the door knob. 

She stopped at the door, debating if she should step into the room or turn around. Something was wrong. She knew it was. But, she was also never one to run away. 

There was nowhere to hide once she was in her apartment. It was one big room. No corners,no hallsway, nowhere to take cover.

“Hello Nora Doll.” 

Her father. He had never had a comforting voice, but now it cut like venom and hurt her to her core. There was that nickname yet again. It was the same one he had called her throughout her entire childhood, something she had thought may have been sweet.  _ Nora Doll.  _ Now it only left her with a sour taste in her mouth and a sick feeling in her stomach. 

She took a deep breath and refused to let her voice waver. If he didn’t find anything that would hint that Ray was part of her life and she acted natural she could still keep him safe. 

“What are you doing here?” Nora was a good liar. She had gotten practice when she used to lie about who her dad was when he first died, and she had perfected it when she was asked to lie for him once he came back. 

“Well you seemed off when you left today. You never let prisoners go.”

Nora rolled her eyes. She did let Ray go on purpose but even if that wasn’t the case he would be saying the same thing. Nothing she did was ever good enough. “And I told you he was strong. I get there was a lot of pressure because he’s who we’ve been after but there's a reason he was hard to catch in the first place.”

He put his hands up in mock surrender. “Hey I never said I thought less of you for it, just that it was odd for you. But it soon became clear to me why that was.” His voice dripped with disdain, something evil lurking behind it. 

He had found something. Of course he had. Her and Ray had spent most of their time at his penthouse for this reason. Nora’s lives had to stay separate. She couldn’t leave a trace of her life with Ray or with her father, so her apartment stayed nearly empty all the time. Nothing too personal. But she had slipped up. 

She watched as her father picked up a picture frame. Ray had given it to her for their one month anniversary. It had a picture of them at the same park as their first date. They looked happy. Even though it had only been a few hours since everything had come crumbling down, the photo and the smiles on their faces were foreign. The fear that things would never be the same again creeped back up and Ray wasn’t here to put them to rest like he always did. 

“I can’t tell you what I was expecting to find when I came over here but it certainly wasn’t this Nora. But I can say it is far more  _ interesting  _ than anything I imagined.” His voice was sickeningly sweet, as if he was just as fascinated as he claimed to be instead of enraged. It was more scary than if he started screaming and blowing plates of the shelves of her kitchen. 

Nora was at a loss for what to say. She just blinked back at him as she tried to catch her breath. Words of defense threatened to be pushed past her lips but they died in her throat. Lies rushed to mind that she could tell. She could say that she followed a lead and pretended everything to get information for her father. Somehow this could be spun so that she was still the golden daughter who he could be proud of.

Instead, she settled on the truth, so sick of hiding half her life away from everyone in it. “I didn’t know who he was.” 

“You’re smarter than that Nora. You let him deceive you? For how long?” Anger was finally seeping through in his voice. 

“It’s not your business how long. I lied to him too. Neither of us knew about the other.” Her voice wavered. Nora could only stay strong for so long and she was reaching kher breaking point. 

Her father picked up on this sadness lying beneath. It was clear now that she wasn’t glad to be rid of him. Nora was heart broken, but that didn’t and would never matter to him. “You love him. Don’t you?”

She was reminded of Ray, of his kindness, how he was the one who showed her that she deserved a chance to be better. Nora felt stronger. She was no longer going to be complicit in her father's schemes. She was going to fight back because for the first time in her life she had something to fight for. Ray was that something. He was a reminder that people could be good, that there was always going to be hope if you were strong enough to look for it. She was going to keep Ray safe. She wasn’t going to let her father win.

“Yes,” Nora said it with more confidence than she had ever had around her father. “And I’m not going to let you hurt him like you do everything else.”

Nora had hoped that her father would realize that she meant business and have a reaction like shock or fear. But instead he just laughed. 

“Oh Nora Doll. I thought I had trained you well.” He took a deep breath as his demeanor sobered. “You really think your  _ love  _ will be enough to save you? To save him? You really are just naive. Nothing that you can do can stop me.”

She wasn’t going to let him patronize her. Nora knew what she wanted, a full and honest life with Ray in it, and she wasn’t going to be made out to be stupid for wanting it. To him she was still the little girl that he had left behind years ago and she was sick out it. Sick of being made out to be less than. So for once, Nora said exactly what she was really feeling to her father instead of going along to please him. 

“Eat shit dad.”

She felt all the anger she had felt towards him for the past month came out through her magic. Her father flew against the wall. Nora couldn’t help but grin as she heard a  _ crack  _ as he landed. 

Nora turned on her heel to run but soon felt as though she was moving through quicksand. Something was stopping her from running. By the time she reached the doorway her father was up on his feet again, a cut draining the blood from his lips. His hand was outstretched towards her and she was locked in place, as if she was glued to the floor. Nora had seen her father do this to other people to capture them but she never thought he would do it to her. 

“Ah ah ah,” He chided her. “You’re a traitor. If I let you go you’re going to turn around, run off with Mr. Palmer here,” he motioned to the photo, “and betray me. We can’t have that can we?”

“You won’t hurt me.” Nora knew that her father was a bad person but he did have a few redeeming qualities, one being that he did care about her. He wasn’t a good father he abandoned his family just to get himself into trouble, but he at least he loved her. Hurting her was the one thing that Nora knew that he would never do. 

He laughed again. “Oh, you have no idea what I’m willing to do to get what I want.” 

His hand reached out towards her and he dropped the picture frame, letting it shatter all over the floor. Even though there were much bigger things to be worrying about, Nora's heart broke at the image. Tears threatened to spill over as she struggled to move. She wanted to ignore her father standing over her and bend down to pick up the photo, as some sort of moento for how things used to be. 

Suddenly she felt weak. A hazy cloud was falling over her and soon she felt as though she could barely stand up. Everything was moving in slow motion. She tried to fight back against her fathers magic but her eyes, now heavy, fell, leaving her in darkness. 

\----

When she came to Nora was in a room that looked vaguely familiar. It was an unpainted cinder block room with concrete floors and an uncomfortable cot that she was lying on in the corner of the room. 

It was the basement of her dads warehouse. It was the place where he kept people he wanted to get rid of, to break. In the earlier months of his return when Nora was just happy to have a family back she had been down here to use her magic to get information out of people, but since that happy phase she wasn’t able to stomach it. It was the room where people suffered at her father's hand. This time Nora would be the one on the receiving end. 

Her head pounded as she sat up. It felt like someone was banging a hammer against her skull while she was sleeping. The thoughts that were flying through her head did nothing to alleviate the pain. 

Nora started to worry. About everything from her own circumstances, to what Ray would think and his safety. She had no idea what time it was. What if it was hours and hours from when she left his penthouse and he thought that she had abandoned him or had gotten into trouble. Nora couldn’t have him coming to save her, it would only end in him getting hurt too. 

Before she could let herself get too lost in thought her father walked through the door on the other side of the room. 

“Nice to see you’re finally awake.”

Nora rolled her eyes. “Wish I could say it was nice to see you.” Her words dripped with anger and disdain.

“No need to get fussy with me. This is only a temporary solution. Once I take over the city like we always planned this will all blow over. Palmer will be gone and none of this will matter.”

She stood up, ready to fight back. Her hand glowed purple, about to fire off a blast, when instead it slowly floated like fog over a pond to her father. The magic somehow left her. It never had done that. Nora started to feel weak again, like she did before. She slumped back onto the bed, hunched over and put her aching head in her hands. Trying to figure out what just happened. 

Looking up at her father she asked, “What did you do to me?” Nora felt the same pit crawl back into her stomach that was there when she saw her apartment door open that she never should have stepped through. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer to her own question. 

“Nora this isn’t what I meant to happen. I tried to play nice but you can’t seem to stay on one team.” 

Nora looked up at him, still just as confused. 

“You seriously have no idea why I came back to you?” He smirked, the way adults do at children who don’t know any better. He took a deep breath when he got no answer in return. “After I died the only way for me to brought back was to lose my own magic. I tried ways for years to take over the city and gain power without it, but what can I say? I missed it.”

_ But you still have magic,  _ Nora thought to herself. She wasn’t going to interrupt him now with her own remarks. She was finally getting the answers she wanted. 

“But, luckily I could still use magic, I just didn’t have it within myself to use whenever I pleased. I had to take it from somewhere else.”

Nora stomach dropped. She was putting together the pieces, hoping he wouldn’t confirm them to be true. 

“Now I doubt it would surprise you very much, but there aren’t exactly stores where you can buy magic so I had to get a bit creative. Then I thought of you.”

“No. No, you didn’t.” Nora wished so badly that it wasn’t true. Her fathers one redeeming quality was that he seemed to care about her, that he could have been her family even if it wasn’t perfect. But he didn’t care. He was just using her.

“Nora-doll-,”

“Don’t call me that!” Nora interjects. 

Her father just rolled his eyes, as if Nora was just being overly dramatic and her whole life wasn't being turned on its head. “I needed a way to make my plan reality, and since you had to be in the picture now it could be your plan too. I took magic little by little, in ways you would never notice. I held back my power over you so we could be a family again. I could make my vision for the future come true and you would have had a place in it if you hadn’t run off with the ATOM.”

Noras confusion and hope that this wasn't true turned into anger. “You didn't do this for me or family, or whatever altruistic reason you’re trying to convince yourself of! You used me! I was never your daughter, I was just some fucking battery for you! I’m not in the picture because you cared about me or wanted to reunite with your daughter. You said it yourself I’m here because I have to be, for your fucking plan!” All of her feelings poured out of her. Her life had been made into a web of lies by the man in front of her. She thought it was for a good reason, for the family he had taken away from her when he left. It was all for nothing. It was for her to used and taken advantage of for something she didn’t even want. 

Nora stood up, magic or not she was going to fight back. She was going to get out of here, get Ray and leave the city. But, her anger threatened her father. He knew that she was going to act out, no longer oblivious, no longer complicit. She stood tall, pushing back the sick feeling in her stomach along with every possible fear. 

Before she could take a step further the room started spinning. He was stealing her magic again, making her weak, no longer worrying about if she would notice. He was draining everything from her. 

The floor grew closer and closer as she sank into the darkness. 

\----

Rays watch had to be broken. It had to be.

There was no way he had slept for four hours. Nora was supposed to be back in one. She was supposed to be here.

But every clock, on his phone and computers, said they same thing. They all told her she was gone, in trouble probably. 

He paced around his room trying to catch his baring and figure out what could have happened and what he could do. He wanted to put on his suit and leave to go find her. He was a superhero, he should be able to save her. But, Ray had no way of knowing what had happened. If he were to go into a fight without a clear head or idea what he was up against it could make things even worse for her. 

A quiet ding from his computer rang across the apartment. An email.

It wasn’t from a Palmer Tech address.

He tried to come up with any scenario that would make this odd occurrence mean nothing. Something probably typed an email address in wrong and he got it by mistake. But there was still an aching stomach in his stomach that told him it was no accident that he got the message. It was Nora. It had to be. 

Attached was a video. 

Rays hand shook as he hovered over the play button

The screen showed Ray everything he had been worried about. His biggest fears and nightmares. 

Nora was there, tied to a chair as he had been, looking more tired and worn down than he had ever seen her. She had always been so strong but now she looked like anything but that. She struggled trying to get out of her bounds and tried to scream through a gag threaded through her lips. He could hear her yelling his name. 

Damien came into frame. Ray saw red. The only thing keeping him from shattering the monitor was the hope that the video being displayed would lead him back to Nora. 

“You really thought you could get away with this Palmer? You thought you could turn my own daughter against me?” 

Nora screamed louder, trying to drown out what he was saying. Or maybe she was just too angry to sit by and let her father spout off lies. Either way it didn’t have the effect she had hoped for. Instead of being in awe of her defiance, her father turned his palm towards her and she sank down. The only thing keeping her upright were the ties around her torso. Her eyes were still open though, it looked like it was only through great difficulty. 

“No matter what I’m sure you believe, I don’t want to be doing this. I don’t want to hurt my daughter but if it will help me get what I want… then so be it. If you come back to where I had taken you she can go free.If you give yourself up this can all be over and she will be safe. See you soon  _ ATOM.”  _

Nora screamed through the gag again. Fighting back even harder than she had before. She managed to twist her head quickly enough that the gag came loose around her neck. “Ray don’t do this! Please. Don’t let him-”

The video cut out.

The last thing he saw was Nora's face. She looked more scared than he could remember her being. Tears welled up in his eyes. His heart was broken seeing her like that. With no agency and no power, only used as a pawn. He wished that there was a way that he could have kept her out of this but it was something she was born into.

All he could do was save her now. There was no going back. 

**Author's Note:**

> PLEASE leave a comment and kudos if you liked it! it means so much to me!  
> i hope you enjoyed it :) 
> 
> also: come scream about darhkatom on tumblr with me @timetravelingpalmer


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